The Clinical Trials Knowledge Hub
The clinical trials knowledge hub is dedicated to driving sustainable practices and decarbonisation across the clinical trials ecosystem. Our primary objective is to equip and empower researchers and trial teams with the necessary tools to identify and address carbon hotspots in clinical trial design and delivery. Through the development and dissemination of guidance and methodology, we aim to help you build lean efficiency and sustainability into clinical trials.
The hub enables collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, industry partners and regulatory bodies, to share best practices in this field and foster a culture of sustainability by design. By working together, we seek to reduce the substantial carbon footprint associated with clinical trials, and contribute to the broader effort to mitigate the environmental impact of healthcare research.
Clinical Trials Carbon Calculator
The calculator is free to use and makes use of carbon footprint methodology and data contained within the Clinical Trials Carbon Footprinting: Guidance Document. It uses a step-wise process to sum carbon from a number of separate activities (modules) associated with the design, management and operation of clinical trials to estimate the overall carbon footprint (kgCO2e) of a trial.
Sign up for the webinar here
Interested in joining our LinkedIn Community of Practice?
The group, hosted by the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, forms part of our Sustainable Clinical Trials Knowledge Hub. It is intended to serve as a community of practice to bring together a broad range of stakeholders involved in making clinical trials more sustainable.
Decarbonising Clinical Trials at Novartis
How targeted interventions in logistics, design, and operations are reducing the carbon footprint and operational efficiency of global clinical research
Clinical Trials, Health and Climate Change
Many are now making the link that the climate change crisis also represents a health crisis. Srilata Kammila, Head of Climate Change Adaptation for the UNDP said “This is the most pressing health and humanitarian challenge of the 21st century. A quarter of a million people are expected to die every year from climate change between 2030 and 2050 if we do nothing about it, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Our research published in The Lancet in 2021 underscored the substantial greenhouse gas emissions associated with clinical trials, primarily from energy consumption in research facilities and air travel. While a 2011 estimate by the Sustainable Clinical Trials Group pointed to this issue, our analysis of the approximately 350,000 trials registered in clinicaltrials.gov between 2000 and 2021 suggested a cumulative footprint of 27.5 million tonnes of GHG emissions from clinical research alone.
Building Partnerships for Change
Collaboration across the many actors that control, influence or are interested in driving healthcare sustainability is key to accelerating action on sustainability. Our approaches for assessing and reducing the environmental impacts of clinical research have been developed by collaborating with health system stakeholders, including members of the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, Pistoia Alliance, the Sustainable Markets Initiative Health Systems Task Force, and publicly-funded clinical trial units.
Invitation to Collaborate
A project to improve understanding of how to assess and reduce the carbon footprint of clinical trials
Initial Scope Meeting
Between UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition and TMRP
Call-to-arms Publication
A strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of clinical trials, The Lancet
COP26 Launch
Sustainable Markets Initiative HSTF launch
First iLCCT Round Table
(June 2022)iLCCT Project Proposal
(August 2022)Sustainable Markets Initiative White paper
The Digital Solution for Sustainability in Clinical Development
An examination of how digital solutions can cut emissions in clinical trials – COP27.
Clinical Trial Commitments Announced
SMI HSTF announced their commitments at COP27
Environmental Assessment Method Document published
(November 2023)Carbon Footprinting Guidance
Document published
Beta-test Carbon Footprinting
Tool launched
Final Version of Carbon Footprinting
Tool launched
SMI CEOs' letter
Final Launch
SMI companies start to gather & publish clinical research footprints
Our Work
Decarbonising academic clinical trials
Sustainable Healthcare Coalition have had an ongoing collaboration with the Low Carbon Clinical Trials project for academic clinical trials units since 2020. We published a “call to arms” in the Lancet in 2021. The project group subsequently published an NIHR-funded methodology for estimating the direct and indirect carbon impact of clinical trials in 2024 and a further publication examining the carbon footprint of ten academic clinical trials in 2024.
Decarbonising commercial clinical trials
The SHC and its industry Low Carbon Clinical Trials (iLCCT) consortium partners, including the Pistoia Alliance, our academic partners and the Sustainable Markets Initiative, have also been working on decarbonising clinical trials. One of the primary objectives of this collaboration is to provide a framework and tool to help health system stakeholders to understand and reduce the environmental impact of clinical research. In January 2025, the Clinical Trial Calculator was formally launched, following extensive beta testing and feedback from a wide range of stakeholders, supported by the Clinical Trials Carbon Footprinting: Guidance Document, methodology document and a user quick-start guide. Work continues to further develop the calculator. Specific working groups will be formed in early 2025 to focus efforts on carbon hotspots such as temperature-regulated shipping and digital health solutions.